In short
- The acceptance rates differ substantially between the various programmes.
- These vary between 17% and 70%.
- In recent years, the award percentage has varied between 25% and 31%.
What are the acceptance rates of the different groups of NWO programmes?
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
Research facilities and equipment | 90 | 39 | 70 | |
Other | 44 | 40 | 53 | 50 |
Taskforces | 48 | 48 | 50 | 45 |
Basic research | 23 | 15 | 20 | 23 |
National Science Agenda (NWA) | 14 | 18 | 35 | 22 |
Talent programmes | 20 | 18 | 22 | 17 |
Analysis
In 2022 NWO received 5,728 research proposals, of which 1,585 were granted. This is substantially less than in previous years. In 2021, 4,919 applications were submitted, of which 1,527 were granted. This difference is due to the fact that NWO was hit by a cyber attack in 2021. The subsidy processes have been suspended for five weeks and have therefore been rescheduled. The long-term planning of various grant programmes has also been delayed due to the cyber attack.
In 2021, as in 2020, most applications (38%) were submitted in the 'talent' category. The differences in award percentages between the programs are substantial. The award percentage for the 'Taskforces' is two times higher than the award percentages for 'Basic research'.
How have the acceptance rates of NWO programmes developed?
Acceptance rate | |
2004 | 35 |
2005 | 33 |
2006 | 37 |
2007 | 32 |
2008 | 30 |
2009 | 30 |
2010 | 25 |
2011 | 22 |
2012 | 24 |
2013 | 25 |
2014 | 24 |
2015 | 25 |
2016 | 26,6 |
2017 | 30 |
2018 | 27 |
2019 | 29 |
2020 | 25 |
2021 | 31 |
2022 | 28 |
Analysis
Between 2006 and 2011, the overall acceptance rates strongly declined, from 37 to 22 percent. Thereafter the acceptance rate stabilizes at about a quarter of the proposals. In recent years, the award percentage has varied between 25% and 31%. In 2022 the acceptance rate is 28%.
For an explanation of the used definitions and acronyms we kindly refer to the web page Definitions for Science in Figures.